Abstract (eng)
The Zwentendorf nuclear power station can be described as a symbol of a directional decision for Austria. With its decision in the popular referendum on 5 November 1978, in which 50,4 percent of the population voted against the commissioning of the nuclear power station, Austria certainly took a special position. The National Council was bound by the votes of the electorate and therefore passed an atomic prohibition law on 15. December 1978 prohibiting the use of nuclear power in Austria. Since then, the Republic has had a nuclear power plant which has never been put into operation. In Zwentendorf, there have been guided tours of the nuclear power station for several years, which are often made by interested parties. The nuclear power station also functions as an educational power station and has long served as a kind of spare parts storage.
According to Klaus Klemp, a museum has the core function to show something. However, it is, by no means, the case that the museum is the only place where the exhibition can function, but it is the primary purpose of a museum.
The present museum concept of the “House of Nuclear Energy, Zwentendorf, Rise and Fall”, offers a framework, where the human being, the museum and the exhibition object are very close, acting as a symbol of the history of the nuclear energy. If at the beginnings of nuclear energy, one has only seen the enormous success and profit of this form of energy production, the views have radically changed over the course of time.
In this museum concept, the focus is on the competence-oriented mediation in the museum, because this topic of the history is to be connected in the present with the future visitors of the museum. Whether the population in general feels addressed by the topic of nuclear power, or schools and universities with appropriate specialist orientations are inspired by the museum, the question remains open at first. In further consequence, the implementation of related international museum programs will be presented. For the museum guest, the main focus should be on the implementation of the respective museum program.
The basic concept of the "House of Nuclear Power - Zwentendorf, Rise and Fall" is divided into individual dimensions. In the area of the technical dimension, where the technical description of the nuclear power plant is located, the structure of the possible museum is also discussed in sections. In addition to the political and legal dimension(s), which always intersect one another and thus do not result in any separation of the sub-areas - which is represented by quotations from legal texts and excerpts from the subject literature in order not to violate the authentic effect of the framework area, the social dimension will be dealt with below. In the social dimension, both the views and procedures of the resistance movements as well as the interviews with contemporary witnesses are presented. In addition, the pupils’ approach to the topic of "Nuclear Power Plant Zwentendorf" is dealt with in this dimension. The purpose of the present museum concept is to illustrate the effectiveness of action of historical didactics: from the interpretation of the past to the present understanding of the future.